The winter solstice is an important solar term in the 24 solar terms, and it is also regarded as a big festival in winter among the people, so we attach great importance to the winter solstice, the winter solstice originated in the Han Dynasty, so the customs of the winter solstice are very many, the following is a brief introduction to the origin and customs of the winter solstice for your reference!
The origin and customs of the winter solstice
The winter solstice is the twenty-second of the 24 solar terms, and it is the extreme of the sun's direct southward direction when the sun's ecliptic longitude reaches 270 degrees from December 21 to December 22 every year. The winter solstice can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty at the earliest, and according to legend, the Zhou Gong used the method of Tugui to measure the scenery, and selected the longest day of the year as the beginning of the new year, and the first month in the Zhou calendar is November in the summer calendar. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar to separate the first month and the winter solstice, and since then he has begun to celebrate the winter solstice festival, which has continued to this day.
The customs of the winter solstice
1.Worship the heavens. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the winter solstice was the day of worshiping the heavens and worshipping the ancestors, and on the day of the winter solstice, the emperor should personally go to the Temple of Heaven in the suburbs to hold a ceremony to sacrifice weight, that is, the emperor should talk to the heavens, pray for the peace of the country and the people, and the harvest of grains. People also worship their dead relatives on this day, so on the winter solstice, people have the Xi of burning paper on the grave.
2.Number ninety-nine.
The folk also call the winter solstice as a hand or number nine, that is, from the day of the winter solstice, every nine days as a total of nine divided into nine, a total of nine hundred and eighty-one days. After 81 days, spring begins. After the winter solstice, the number 99 is very popular in all parts of the country, and people everywhere have arranged various proverbs and smooth Xi according to the different climatic conditions, scenery characteristics, agricultural weather and customs of each place. Among them, the most representative is the following song, "1929 does not shoot, 3949 walks on the ice, 5969 looks at the willows along the river, 79 rivers open, swallows come, 99 plus 19 ploughing cattle go everywhere".
3.Dumplings are eaten in the north, and glutinous rice balls are eaten in the south.
Winter solstice dumplings summer solstice noodles", in the past, people spent the winter solstice, and the dietary Xi was mostly to eat dumplings. On the winter solstice, dumplings are an indispensable festive meal, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
In the south, eating glutinous rice balls is popular on the winter solstice, and there is also a saying among the folk that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Tangyuan, also known as tangyuan, is a round dessert made of rice flour, "round" means "reunion" and "consummation", so eating tangyuan on the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice ball". Tangyuan can be used to worship ancestors and can also be used to give gifts to relatives and friends.
The meaning of the winter solstice
In ancient China, the winter solstice was very important, and the winter solstice was regarded as a large festival, and there was a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as a year", and there was a Xi to celebrate the winter solstice. In the Book of Han, it is said: "The winter solstice is yang, and the monarch is long, so he congratulates." "It is believed that after the winter solstice, the days are getting longer and longer, and the yang energy is rising, which is the beginning of a solar term cycle and an auspicious day that should be celebrated. The Book of Jin records that "on the winter solstice of the Wei and Jin dynasties, he was congratulated by all countries and hundreds of bureaucrats......Its ritual is inferior to Zhengdan. It shows that the ancient times attached great importance to the winter solstice.
Now, some places still celebrate the winter solstice as a festival. In the northern region, there is a Xi of slaughtering sheep, eating dumplings and wontons on the winter solstice, while in the southern region, there is a Xi of eating winter solstice rice balls and winter solstice long noodles on this day. On the day of the winter solstice, there is also a Xi of worshipping the heavens and ancestors.